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Argumentative Essay: The Boston Massacre

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On a cold night of March 5, 1770 in Boston, Massachusetts, nine British soldiers fired shots into a crowd of one hundred Bostonians. Five were fatally injured or killed in the shooting, and some of the people killed were not even in the mob. This caused major corruption amongst the town, across the state, even across what was then America. Captain Preston, who ordered all to fire, was found innocent and two soldiers were convicted of manslaughter. This was named as the Boston Massacre, which had a lot to do with how America is today. The Boston Massacre was important because it played a part in creating financial benefits of America by challenging people’s rights, challenged right from wrong, and also created taxes. There were many reasons for the event that would be recognized as the Boston Massacre. “Conflicts between the …show more content…

After the convictions, sentencing of the soldiers took place 2 days after. During sentencing, the convicted soldier’s thumbs were branded with a permanent “m” as a token of punishment. If they were ever convicted again, they would not receive such treatment. James Adams, Boston’s leading attorney, defended all the soldiers. His law practice suffered a decline after the trial. “Boston settled uncomfortably into a period of relative calm time. However, passions were to be inflamed again by the Tea Party Act of 1773.” (Boston Massacre Trials) The Tea Act, passed by Parliament on May 10, 1773, granted the British East India Company Tea a monopoly tea sales in American colonies. This was what ultimately compelled a group of Sons of Liberty members on the night of December 16, 1773 to disguise themselves as Mohawk Indians, board three ships in Boston Harbor, and destroy over 92,000 pounds of tea. (The Tea Act) Passing the Tea Act imposed no taxes on colonies. Due to boycotts and protests, the Townshend Act was soon repealed taxes on glass, oil, paint, and

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The Tea Act was putting tax on tea sold by other companies other than the East India Company. A group of colonists wanted to make things change was the Sons of Liberty. Led by Samuel Adams and John Hancock. They had secret meetings and then took action

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On May 10, 1773, the British parliament passed the Tea Act and unlike the previous acts it didn’t impose new taxes and its main purpose was not to make more money from the colonies but to help out the East India Company which was struggling financially. The company was struggling because many colonists were boycotting tea to protest the tax on tea and as a result, the company had millions of pounds of unsold tea in its warehouses. The company was important to the British because it played a large role in their economy and the Tea Act gave the company a monopoly on the sales and importation of tea in the colonies. The Tea Act affected the colonists by causing merchants who were part of the illegal Dutch tea trade to lose business, forcing shop

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The British were in massive debt following the French and Indian war, therefore they placed taxes on the colonists in order to regenerate some of that money lost. The Sugar Act of 1764 taxed the sale of molasses in hopes to gain some lost money, but this act led the people of Boston to boycott the molasses industry. The Stamp Act of 1765 shortly followed, making colonists buy a stamp with every paper product. The rage the colonists felt over the passing of this act, led the colonies to begin to unify as they together boycotted the trade industry. The Townshend Duties of 1767 imposed taxes on glass, lead, paint, paper and tea, but this only led to the colonist to again boycott the trade of those items and start newspaper attack.

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Almost all of the taxes were rescind, but the tax on tea was kept. Boston Massacre:

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The evidence, from the 7 eyewitnesses, support that the colonists were the aggressors during the fateful evening of March 5, 1770, the Boston Massacre. Some cited evidence proves it. Number one, “I saw the people throw snowballs at the soldiers and saw a stick 3 feet long strike a soldier upon the right” (Theodore Bliss). In other terms they were assaulting the soldiers with pieces of snow or ice at them, afterward they hit one of them with a 3 foot club. This shows that the soldiers didn’t shoot to murder, they shot in self-defense.

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709 Words | 3 Pages

John Adams defended most of the accused British soldiers because they were charged with murder. But to years later the United states Founding father Samuel Adams named the event the Boston Massacre to help assure it would not be forgotten. John Copley created an image of event. But

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1397 Words | 6 Pages

The Boston Massacre was the result of the ongoing tension that was growing between the colonists and the British. Paul Revere, who was an engraver, turned this event into a huge piece of propaganda with the help of others for the colonials to realize what the British were trying to do. Paul Revere wanted them to realize that what the British were doing was unconstitutional. He was trying to bring to light the injustices that the British were imposing on America. And, if enough people could see what Britain was doing, then they would have enough people in which they could form a rebellion, and reject British rule.

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First of all, it further aggravated the relationship between the British and the colonists and helped to increase the growing calls for separation. The colonists became more and more bitter as the news of the Boston Massacre spread, helping enhance its’ importance in the steps leading toward the American

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On the night of March 5, 1770, A major conflict between the American Colonists and British soldiers arose on King street. The British were taxing the Colonists, and the Colonists were protesting and boycotting against the taxes creating tension between the two sides. Since this happened, the British soldiers are the ones to blame for the Boston Massacre. The British Soldiers are responsible for the Boston Massacre According to the Committee of Boston, (Sam Adams, John Hancock and more…) “ This is without warning of their intention and killed 3 on the spot.”

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158 Words | 1 Pages

he infamous street fight that took place in Boston, Massachusetts is referred to as The Boston Massacre. The Boston Massacre occurred on March 5, 1770. The riot started when a few young boys began to throw stones and rocks at British soldiers who were guarding the Customs House. The crowd around the boys started to grow larger and larger, and then people from the crowd begun to join the boys, throwing ice at the soldiers and taunting them. The soldiers then fired, killing five colonists.

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1026 Words | 5 Pages

Townspeople are calling it a battle for liberty (The Boston Massacre). The etching posted in town square seems farfetched. Why would the soldiers purposely fire into a crowd without good reason? Pastor Weston was in Boston during the massacre. He said that Patriots were in a drunken stupor protesting near the Customs House about the resent increase of soldiers and the newly implemented Townshend acts in Boston.

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735 Words | 3 Pages

The Boston Massacre is an event most Americans and British students learn about over the course of their education. In America, we learn that British soldiers fired upon innocent civilians, although this may not have been the case. British historians have referred to the Boston Massacre as the "Incident on King Street". After looking over the "Captain Thomas Preston 's Account of the Boston Massacre", as well as "Boston Massacre Trial Depositions" I believe that American historians should refer to the "Boston Massacre" as the "Incident on King Street". The definition of a massacre refers to an unnecessary and random killing of a large number of individuals.

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558 Words | 3 Pages

The Boston Massacre was a street fight that occurred on March 5, 1770, between a “patriot”. They were throwing sticks, snowballs, and trash at a group of British troops. The loyalists got very annoyed with the patriots so they shot into the mob killing five. The riot began when around 50 colonists attacked a British sentinel. A British officer called in for additional troops

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581 Words | 3 Pages

A bill known as the Boston Port Bill was passed which banned the loading and unloading of ships in the Boston harbor, because the harbor was full of salty tea which would destroy the cargo ships. The Administration of Justice Act offered protection to royal officials in Massachusetts, allowing them to transfer to England all court cases against them involving riot suppression or revenue collection. The Massachusetts Government Act put the election of most government officials under the control of the Crown, essentially eliminating the Massachusetts charter of government. These were the most important events to me at least that were in chronological order that resulted in the before math and aftermath of the Boston Tea Party. This is what i think is important about the Boston Tea Party.

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764 Words | 4 Pages

If the following events didn’t take place we wouldn’t have America. In my opinion the Boston Massacre was one of the very main causes to why the Road to Revolution took place. The reason I believe this was an important cause because it was, “ the first episode which resulted in the loss of life.” It is stated that, “Four Bostonians were killed when Redcoats fired into an angry mob.”

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